Giovanni Castellucci sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in the 2018 Morandi bridge collapse in Genoa
Giovanni Castellucci, the former chief executive of motorway operator Autostrade per l'Italia, was sentenced to 12 years in prison by an Italian court for his role in the 2018 Morandi bridge collapse. The disaster, which occurred during a summer storm, killed 43 people and destroyed a 200-meter section of the viaduct. The Tribunal of Genoa concluded that the collapse was foreseeable and preventable, attributing the failure to a "system of defects" and inadequate maintenance. The court convicted 32 former executives, engineers, and public officials, finding them responsible for negligence in the bridge's oversight and project delivery. While the prosecution argued that maintenance was repeatedly delayed for profit, the defense maintained that the collapse resulted from an undetectable structural defect in a specific cable. Other defendants received varying prison terms, including 11 years for former maintenance chief Michele Donferri Mitelli. The verdict follows a four-year trial involving 284 hearings. Following the disaster, the bridge was replaced by the Genoa San Giorgio Bridge, which opened in 2020.